Information Technology Management

By Anthony Fedanzo

This book is a practical guide to the key things you need to do right to successfully manage Information Technology (IT) in today's business world. It is intended for both new managers of IT organizations and seasoned managers from other areas who have management responsibility for IT in their company. This means discussion focuses on pivotal strategic issues such as budgets, staffing, systems, relationships with end-users and senior management, etc., and gives specific advice for each.

Concentrating on strategic issues is sometimes thought of by harried IT managers as too general to be of much use. Yet paying attention to strategic issues is just paying attention to the basics. If you get the basics right, the rest follows. If you don't, no amount of cleverness will keep you from failing. When you are done reading this you be able to create and maintain your own strategic focus on IT management challenges. You will also be better equipped to approach the immediate (tactical) challenges to your plans.

Every book has its words to live by and this book is no exception. The two phrases you'll see most often are "Do The Basics" and "Live by these Four Principles: on time, on budget, no surprises, tell the truth." These will be repeated because they make all the difference between success and failure.

This book is intended for people who either are starting a new position as an IT manager or who want to update their knowledge of IT management fundamentals. Their title may be IT Manager, Director, Vice President or Chief Information Officer. The fundamental tasks are much the same, but the scale and scope of their application grows. This book assumes that you have the chair behind the desk where the proverbial information "buck stops" in your company.

Your background may be from within the IT field or you may be a line manager who has assumed control of an IT organization. In the latter case this book will be especially helpful because it avoids "techie" discussions and concentrates on the core issues and so-called best practices of good IT management. If you know how to deal effectively with core IT issues you'll be way ahead of your peers.

The focus of the book can be summarized in the phrase Do the basics. The basics in this case are how and when to apply four easy principles of successful IT management, namely getting the job done on time, on budget with no surprises and telling the truth.

What you won't find in this book is a detailed guide to managing difficult people or to the techniques of computer benchmarks. Nor does it pretend to show you how to read the minds of your management. There are dozens of good books on managing difficult people, drafting budgets, financial planning, strategic vision, and so forth. This book concentrates on how and when to use those skills and why.

What you will find in this book is both strategic and tactical advice. The first four chapters can be applied to management generally by substituting "accounting," "marketing," or the like for "IT." The rest of the book focuses upon issues that are essential to IT in particular. The goal of the whole book is to deliver a concise outline of the key things you need to know to succeed as an IT manager: coping with end-users, Senior Management, budgets, control of resources, people, and the occasional crisis among other things.

Many management books are written in an effort to fire up managerial zeal for new ideas and methods. This book takes a different tack. We're more interested here in what works than in what generates discussion, smoke, and noise. For example, this book tells you that you will occasionally meet some problems that simply cannot be surmounted by any practical means within your power. Some situations are not in your control and never will be (unless, perhaps, you own the company). Rather than raise false hopes about "surmounting all obstacles" this book points out these "

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 1, 2000
• ISBN: 9781469121031

Anthony Fedanzo

Anthony Fedanzo has over 25 years experience in the Information Technology. This includes executive and middle management positions as well as technical roles in medium and large companies. He has successfully managed a wide range of both centralized and decentralized IT organizations ranging from a few employees up to multinational organizations. Mr. Fedanzo’s articles have appeared in trade publications such as Computerworld and Information Week as well as numerous academic journals.

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Copyright © 2000 by Anthony Fedanzo.

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Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

Who should read this book?

A bit of background.

A word on style.

CHAPTER 1 WHY THIS BOOK?

Key issues for IT managers

CHAPTER 2 WHAT THE COMPANY WANTS

Get a realistic perspective

What business are you in?

How Senior Management thinks

The other thing about Senior Management

The language of Senior Management

What other people want

How can you tell what they need

CHAPTER 3 YOUR JOB

Your job

The new job

CHAPTER 4 YOUR PEOPLE

Managing a staff

Managing managers

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Your people

Consultants

CHAPTER 5 ORGANIZATIONS AND POLITICS

Decentralized IT organizations

Centralized IT organizations

Which is best

Company politics

CHAPTER 6 PUT THE FIRES OUT

Mob Rule

Handling crises

Why do crises happen?

CHAPTER 7 IT’S ABOUT TIMING

Estimating

The downside of timing

The upside of timing

CHAPTER 8 GET AN INVENTORY—QUICK!

Why an inventory?

How do you do one?

Passing an IT audit

CHAPTER 9 IT’S THEIR DATA

End of the data center

The squeaky-wheel syndrome

Tell them the truth.

CHAPTER 10 MAKING GOOD TECHNOLOGY CHOICES

Acceptability

Reliability

Performance

Compatibility

Price

Maintenance

CHAPTER 11 CHOOSING SOFTWARE

What’s important

The ‘warm and fuzzy’ factor.

Infrastructure software

CHAPTER 12 CHOOSING HARDWARE.

Acceptability

Reliability

Performance

Compatibility

Price

Maintenance

CHAPTER 13 NETWORKS—INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL

The impact of networks

CHAPTER 14 SECURITY AND ITS INSECURITIES

People hazards

CHAPTER 15 THE INTERNET

CHAPTER 16 SUMMING UP

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the following individuals for reading and commenting upon drafts of this book: Mr. David Gjerdrum, Dr. Steven Rosell, Ms. Patty Whitefield, Mr. Bill Reising, Mr. Steve Sorell, Ms. Linda Cies, Mr. John Dearing, and Mr. Alex Bocast. These colleagues and friends collectively brought more than a hundred years of management and information systems experience to the review process. I also thank my wife Phyllis for her editorial assistance, insights as a practicing psychotherapist, and patience during the preparation of this work. Any errors or omissions remaining are my responsibility alone.

INTRODUCTION

This book is a practical guide to the key things you need to do right to successfully manage Information Technology (IT) in today’s business world. It is intended for both new managers of IT organizations and seasoned managers from other areas who have management responsibility for IT in their company. This means discussion focuses on pivotal strategic issues such as budgets, staffing, systems, relationships with end-users and senior management, etc., and gives specific advice for each.

Concentrating on strategic issues is sometimes thought of by harried IT managers as too general to be of much use. Yet paying attention to strategic issues is just paying attention to the basics. If you get the basics right, the rest follows. If you don’t, no amount of cleverness will keep you from failing. When you are done reading this you be able to create and maintain your own strategic focus on IT management challenges. You will also be better equipped to approach the immediate (tactical) challenges to your plans.

Every book has its words to live by and this book is no exception. The two phrases you’ll see most often are "Do The Basics" and "Live by these Four Principles: on time, on budget, no surprises, tell the truth." These will be repeated because they make all the difference between success and failure.

Who should read this book?

This book is intended for people who either are starting a new position as an IT manager or who want to update their knowledge of IT management fundamentals. Their title may be IT Manager, Director, Vice President or Chief Information Officer. The fundamental tasks are much the same, but the scale and scope of their application grows. This book assumes that you have the chair behind the desk where the proverbial information buck stops in your company.

Your background may be from within the IT field or you may be a line manager who has assumed control of an IT organization. In the latter case this book will be especially helpful because it avoids techie discussions and concentrates on the core issues and so-called best practices of good IT management. If you know how to deal effectively with core IT issues you’ll be way ahead of your peers.

The focus of the book can be summarized in the phrase Do the basics. The basics in this case are how and when to apply four easy principles of successful IT management, namely getting the job done on time, on budget with no surprises and telling the truth.

What you won’t find in this book is a detailed guide to managing difficult people or to the techniques of computer benchmarks. Nor does it pretend to show you how to read the minds of your management. There are dozens of good books on managing difficult people, drafting budgets, financial planning, strategic vision, and so forth. This book concentrates on how and when to use those skills and why.

What you will find in this book is both strategic and tactical advice. The first four chapters can be applied to management generally by substituting accounting, marketing, or the like for IT. The rest of the book focuses upon issues that are essential to IT in particular. The goal of the whole book is to deliver a concise outline of the key things you need to know to succeed as an IT manager: coping with e nd-users, Senior Management, budgets, control of resources, people, and the occasional crisis among other things.

Many management books are written in an effort to fire up managerial zeal for new ideas and methods. This book takes a different tack. We’re more interested here in what works than in what generates discussion, smoke, and noise. For example, this book tells you that you will occasionally meet some problems that simply cannot be surmounted by any practical means within your power. Some situations are not in your control and never will be (unless, perhaps, you own the company). Rather than raise false hopes about surmounting all obstacles this book points out these bear traps as known dangers to avoid wasting your time.

A bit of background.

It is a cliché these days that IT management is more important to business than ever before. That’s the good news. The bad news is that unless your company sells IT services as a significant source of revenue, the IT organization will almost always be viewed as a cost center rather than a profit center. In other words, IT usually will be viewed as a necessary expense rather than as an important asset. You may not succeed at the task, but part of your job is to try and change this perception.

In the business world, being a cost center is one big strike against you before you even step up to the plate. Generally, you’re not going to be able to overcome this position by subsequent performance no matter how sterling. Rather than grousing about the fairness of life, you can still strive to add value to the company through the IT function. IT in most companies is already invaluable as well as indispensable. Nevertheless, IT remains a cost center on the books of most firms.

What you can succeed in doing in this environment is building a first class IT organization despite the inherent restrictions. That, after all, is what you’re paid to do. The following pages tell you how by providing a quick course in the basics of IT management. If you already know them, it will help reinforce your skills. And if you don’t, it could save your job and your sanity.

A word on style.

The style employed is conversational rather than textbook. Imagine that we’re sitting around a lunch table mid-week exchanging ideas about how to survive in the present while preparing for the future. We’re talking about our jobs, our livelihoods—not sitting in classroom debating topics. If we fail to think clearly about the key choices, decisions, and processes in our area of responsibility we could easily be out of work.

It’s been said that only drug traffickers and computer types call their customers users. There’s truth to this bit of folklore. It’s not only funny, it’s accurate with respect to the dependence modern business has on computer technology. Still, the name user does allow us to distinguish providers from consumers of